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October 23,

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How to Choose Industrial Cleaning Supplies

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We&#;re all familiar with small-scale cleaning products. We&#;ve all used anti-bacterial wipes, cleaning sprays and chemical cleaners for our toilets and sinks. But many of us would be at a loss when it comes to choosing heavy-duty commercial cleaning chemicals. This is not for any lack of these supplies being available. There is a wide variety of these products for sale, but many of us don&#;t know anything about them.

If you&#;re entering the industrial cleaning business, or if you&#;re suddenly faced with a cleaning job on an enormous scale, the odds are good that you&#;re suddenly facing the task of buying commercial cleaning supplies. And this can be an intimidating prospect if you have no prior knowledge in this area.

To help you navigate this new world, we&#;ve put together this guide on how to buy commercial cleaning supplies. We&#;ll discuss the importance of superior cleaning supplies, as well as tips for buying them and explanations of different types of industrial cleaning products.

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What Are Industrial Cleaning Supplies?

Industrial cleaning supplies are very much what the name suggests. They&#;re cleaning supplies, but they&#;re intended for an industrial scale. This means that they typically come in large quantities, although this might not always be the case. Additionally, as they are formulated for more heavy-duty applications, they aren&#;t typically pre-diluted and will generally be a bit harsher than their home-use counterparts.

Of course, this tendency towards harshness isn&#;t a rule. Plenty of industrial cleaners have a gentler nature, as there are many kinds of cleaning that need to be done on any industrial site. The general trend, however, is for chemicals and cleaning supplies that will get the job done through the use of intense treatments.

Industrial cleaning supplies come in many forms. They may be water-based soaps, sprays, wipes or more. Just as there are many different types of household cleaning products, there are many different forms of industrial cleaning products.

Why Is It Important to Use Industrial Cleaning Supplies?

You may be wondering why you need another set of cleaning supplies when you already have products you like that work well at home.

The question is understandable, but in most cases, your household products won&#;t get the job done when it comes to industrial-scale cleaning jobs. Firstly, they&#;ll run out very quickly. Household products are packaged for small, single uses in your bathroom or kitchen. They were never meant to clean an entire warehouse or store.

Secondly, your home cleaners will likely not be strong enough to complete the necessary cleaning. These cleaners were intended to scrub away small stains in your home, not to combat dirt, mud, salt-stains and more. Industrial cleaners, on the other hand, are built to conquer these tougher stains and can get deliver the powerful cleaning where your home cleaners might not.

It&#;s vital we keep our public, commercial spaces clean through the use of good cleaners for several reasons:

1. Prevent Health Concerns

The more people are going to be crowded into a space, the more important it is to keep it clean. This is the very reason there are government regulations that dictate the cleanliness standards of any public space. If a business is not up to standard, it could be spreading germs, disease and contamination to everyone who walks through their door. A quick wipe down of the counters with a paper towel isn&#;t enough. You need industrial cleaners.

2. Maintain a Clean Appearance

No one wants to visit or shop at a place that is visibly dirty. People have an eagle eye for things like dirty floors or grimy bathrooms. Smells are also a huge factor, and an unpleasant one is enough to drive customers away. If a company&#;s patrons feel uncomfortable due to the low cleanliness standards of the business, you can safely assume they&#;ll remember their experience, and they won&#;t return for a second visit.

3. Keep the Employees Happy

Maintaining cleanliness standards isn&#;t just about impressing your customers. It&#;s also about creating a good working environment for your staff. No one wants to work someplace that&#;s dirty, dingy and plagued by mysterious smells. Invest in some good cleaning supplies and create a working environment that employees will be proud to come to every day.

What Types of Cleaners Are There?

Generally speaking, industrial cleaning products can be divided into three major types. Each category also covers multiple sub-categories but these overarching divisions serve as neat and tidy ways to group different products together for clarification.

1. Water-Based

Water-based cleaners are those that come in liquid form, with water as their main ingredient. They typically come in a large container or jug, and you dip a rag, mop or brush into the cleaner. Water-based cleaners are usually measured, described and differentiated from one another in terms of their pH levels. Different pH levels make a cleaning product more or less suited to deal with certain types of cleaning.

Cleaners on the acidic side of the pH scale, from zero to seven, are very well-suited to remove mineral stains. This includes things like buildup from hard water, rust or soap scum. Acids have an excellent way of cutting through these buildups, breaking them down and detaching them from the surface they&#;re clinging to. Toilet-bowl cleaner, for example, is often acid-based.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, cleaners on the alkaline side of the pH scale, from seven to 14, are better at removing fats. Think of greases, waxes, oils and even general grime and dirt. Alkaline is better suited to interact with these chemical compounds and remove them.

When stocking your supplies with water-based cleaners, it&#;s important to have ample amounts of both acidic and alkaline cleaners. If you only have one or the other, you will be well-stocked to fight certain types of stains but will be utterly unprepared for others. By having both, you&#;ll be ready for almost anything.

2. Solvent-Based

Unlike water-based cleaners, which feature water as their main ingredient, solvent-based cleaners use one or more chemicals as their main ingredient. However, solvent-based cleaners are still acidic or alkaline depending on what chemicals they&#;re made from.

Solvent-based cleaners can be further divided down into two principal categories. There are products designed to clean a particular surface, such as chrome, steel or wood. Then there are products intended as generic, all-purpose cleaners that can be used on a variety of surfaces and materials.

From a purely economic standpoint, one might immediately assume that it&#;s best to supply yourself with plenty of general cleaners and ignore the rest. This isn&#;t always the case, however. While all-purpose cleaning chemicals are good in many cases, they often can&#;t get to the tougher stains and marks as well as a specific cleaner can. Cleaning a tough stain with a generic cleaner often takes multiple tries before they work, resulting in lost time, money and productivity.

We recommend not only stocking up on several of your favorite all-purpose cleaners but also thinking about the types of surfaces you find yourself cleaning frequently and investing in some products specifically designed for these situations. For example, maybe you have several stainless steel surfaces. It would absolutely be worth it to invest in steel-cleaners instead of wasting your time layering on an ineffectual all-purpose cleaner.

3. Water-Soluble Solvent-Based

Finally, the third category is something of a hybrid, combining elements of both the previous categories we&#;ve mentioned. These cleaners have a chemical as their main ingredient but they will dissolve in water, making these cleaners excellent choices as cleaning solutions.

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These cleaners are a valuable part of any commercial cleaning arsenal and should be stocked along with the rest of your supplies. As with the other cleaners we&#;ve mentioned, these cleaners can be acidic or basic and are best suited for cleaning mineral stains or fats, respectively.

Additionally, these cleaners can be designed to target specific types of stains and dirt, as well as certain materials and surfaces. There are also more all-purpose cleaners.

While water-soluble cleaners are not substitutes for either of the previous two cleaners, they do combine these characteristics in an efficient and effective way. Consider adding these to your list of supplies to stock. Vary your supplies further by purchasing a wide range of these products that seem appropriate for the types of materials you frequently find yourself cleaning.

The Key Factors of a Cleaning Product

Cleaning agents often feature labels full of complex language that can be very difficult to understand if you&#;re unfamiliar with the terms. Because of this, it can be hard to know what distinguishes one cleaning agent from another and what makes one better than another.

Thankfully, there&#;s a handy acronym that will help you remember the four main factors of any cleaning agent. The acronym is TACT, and it breaks down the four key elements of many cleaners:

• Time: Always check how long a cleaner will take to work. Does it need to sit for an hour or can it be scrubbed immediately?
• Action: Learn how a cleaner is meant to work. Does it loosen dirt and grime by sitting on it? Does it need to flow over a surface?
• Chemical concentration: How strong is the cleaning agent? You want something strong enough to get the job done but not so strong that it eats away the material as well as the dirt.
• Temperature: Make sure the chemical doesn&#;t require extremely hot water or any other odd temperature variations.

Search a cleaning agent for these four critical elements. If you have a firm grasp of these, you will know the most important pieces of information.

How Do You Know Which Products to Purchase?

If you&#;re just starting out in the industrial cleaning business, it can be hard to know how to choose cleaning supplies. There are so many products out there, and it can be overwhelming as you try to decide which products are the most important, and which can wait for another day.

Here are a few tips to help you navigate this process:

1. Think of the Investment

Buying commercial grade products isn&#;t always cheap. It can be tempting to go the slightly cheaper route and buy household grade instead. We advise against this, however. As we mentioned, household grade items are packaged in smaller quantities, meaning that you&#;ll end up buying far more of them in the long run. This doesn&#;t just apply to cleaners and is equally true for equipment. Even though commercial equipment and cleaners may have a higher price up front, think of the money you&#;ll be saving over time, and make the investment.

2. Choose Efficiency Over Gimmicks

Maybe there&#;s one product on the market that you find to be really interesting, and you&#;ve been wanting to try out. The only problem is that it isn&#;t really practical for your work, and you&#;d probably only use it once a year for a job that another tool you already have could do perfectly well. In cases like these, the smart thing to do is to pass.

For the maximum efficiency and the greatest use of your budget, try to purchase products that you&#;ll use frequently. Additionally, think of products that can have multiple uses in many different scenarios.

3. Buy Enough to Rotate

With tools like rags, scrubbing brushes and mop heads, you&#;ll want to make sure to buy enough to go around. These items need to be cleaned frequently, and there&#;s nothing worse than needing to use one of these items only to find that they&#;re all dirty. Avoid this scenario by purchasing enough to rotate through them. This way, you should never have a day where you find yourself out of these products.

4. Try Renting It

Pressure washers, floor machines and auto scrubs are all important tools that you&#;ll likely use occasionally. However, they&#;re also expensive. As you start out with your cleaning, consider waiting to buy these items. Instead, just rent them as you find yourself needing them. If you realize that you need them frequently, then perhaps the investment is worth it. If not, however, you can save yourself money and hassle by simply skipping them.

Shop Industrial Cleaning Supplies at JBS Industries

Whether you&#;re just starting out in the business, and are looking to stock your supplies from scratch or you&#;re a long-time professional and you&#;re simply looking to re-supply, you need a cleaning products supplier you can rely on. For all your cleaning supplies needs, we hope you&#;ll consider JBS Industries.

We offer the supplies you need for cleaning warehouses, manufacturing facilities, runways, machinery, laundry and much more. We know you need a wide range of products for all these different applications, and we also know you&#;re looking for the best deal out there. That&#;s why we offer our high-quality products at competitive prices you can afford.

For all the cleaning supplies and products on your shopping list, we hope you&#;ll shop with us here at JBS Industries. Fill out our contact form today so that we can get to know you a little better, or give us a call at 888-745-. We&#;d be happy to answer any questions you may have about our products and how they&#;re designed to serve you.

Breaking Down Industrial Cleaning Equipment Types: From Pressure Washers to Scrubbers

For industrial distribution, warehousing and manufacturing spaces, diligent cleaning is a surefire way to promote employee comfort, protect the quality of products being handled, and provide safe working environments free of accumulated soils and debris. To do so, warehouse and facility managers utilize all types of industrial cleaning equipment, each piece chosen for a targeted soil type, cleaning frequency, efficiency, and cost point. Below we&#;ll discuss cleaning equipment options, their available configurations, and key considerations for managing cleaning equipment.

Keeping warehouse spaces tidy can be broken down into three levels of effort:

• Normal Cleaning &#; industrial cleaning equipment most commonly fulfills the objective of routine cleaning, tidying up loose dust, debris, particulates, and soils that naturally accumulate in a material handling space through everyday use. Shipping and receiving docks tend to receive the most attention for routine cleaning, as do forklift traffic lanes where receiving activities track soil into the warehouse. If non-marking tires are not being used, tire marks are commonly found, especially along corners.
• Deep Cleaning &#; when soil builds up to levels that threaten safety, product quality, and customer satisfaction, it&#;s time to perform a deep cleaning. Warehouse spaces tend to receive deep cleaning between once a quarter and once a year, varying by how well their routine cleaning keeps up. Industrial equipment that targets deep cleaning is often more powerful than standard cleaning equipment, employing stronger chemicals and thermal treatments as well.
• Area Environment Quality &#; aside from common dust and debris, there is an entirely different set of soils that threatens the environmental quality of material handling spaces. Airborne allergens, volatile vapors, carcinogens, engine exhaust emissions, molds, and other biological soils can accumulate in warehouses by venting from stored products, flowing in through ventilation systems, or being pulled into the building through dock doors. Cleaning of these types of soils can be achieved using industrial equipment specifically outfitted for the job (such as with disinfection, irradiation, ultraviolet light, and HEPA filtration components).

As we can see, incidental and inconsistent cleaning is not enough to handle the needs of material handling spaces, which is where purpose-built industrial cleaning equipment comes into play.

Common Cleaning Equipment Types and Features

From routine cleaning to robust environmental quality improvement, there is a wide array of industrial cleaning equipment available on the market for material handling, general commercial, construction, and site maintenance applications, including:

• Sweepers &#; sweeper equipment uses powered brushes with integral vacuum suction to dislodge and pick up loose particulates from open floor spaces.  Sweepers typically only target general light cleaning activities, but can be equipped with many optional features such as dust control misters, high-capacity debris containers, and adjustable sweeper pressure forces.
• Scrubbers &#; scrubbers tackle hard-to-clean soils, spills, films, and deposits that cannot be effectively swept up. Scrubber equipment utilizes pressurized buffing and scrubbing pads mounted to high-force motorized heads that oscillate soils away. Hot and cold water, cleaning chemicals, and vacuum suction all work together to forcefully remove debris and can even apply heat to dry as well as ultraviolet light to sterilize the floor afterwards.
• Combo Cleaners &#; sweeping and scrubbing attachments are different, and one cannot reasonably perform the job of the other. Some applications require an equal balance of both cleaning functions, making a combo sweeper-scrubber cleaner equipped with both systems the ideal choice. On these combo cleaners, each cleaning system can be used independent of the other, or simultaneously if conditions warrant.
• Vacuums &#; industrial vacuum cleaners tend to come in mobile canister styles where humans operate suction wands, quite like residential vacuum wand attachments. These heavy-duty vacuums handle both wet and dry soils, including aggressive debris such as loose gravel and chemical powders. For large areas that do not require scrubbing to free up embedded dust from floors, larger area vacuums are available that resemble industrial sweepers but without the sweeping brushes.
• Pressure Washers &#; for the most aggressive cleaning needs, pressure washers utilize high-pressure, tightly targeted water jets to physically dislodge soils. Pressure washers for industrial applications usually operate between 500 PSI and 6,000 PSI, offering solutions that can break down the hardest, most engrained soils from resilient surfaces. In addition, pressure washers can be used with hot water and cleaning chemicals, adding to their cleaning potential.
• Central Cleaning Systems &#; when thinking about industrial cleaning equipment, readers tend to visualize mobile systems that need to be physically transported to work areas. In certain applications, mobile solutions are not practical, giving way to permanent stationary systems installed throughout a workspace instead. Central cleaning systems reside in a utility space and are piped out to work areas, supplying wash water, vacuum suction, and high-pressure sprays to hose drops mounted around the site.
• Chemical Dispensing Systems &#; for applications that require heavy chemical use to get the job done, dispensing chemicals near the points of use may be an attractive option. In material handling spaces, bulk chemicals are often stored in protected areas, making it cumbersome and slow to refill cleaning equipment. Instead, chemicals can be distributed out to strategic dispensing locations that will only dispense the small volumes needed to refill cleaning equipment and containers.

Sweepers, scrubbers, combo cleaners, and vacuums are readily available in either walking or riding variations. Walk-behind units are often used for smaller spaces that call for tight maneuvering and only incidental cleaning, whereas riding units are best for large spaces. Both styles can also be provided with semi-automatic and fully autonomous control systems, freeing up human operators to perform other critical duties. Note that even when used in fully autonomous mode, the equipment will almost certainly require supervision and possible intervention if cleaning paths need adjustment.

Maximizing the Benefits of Industrial Cleaning Equipment

Managing industrial cleaning needs is by nature straight forward &#; a cleaning task must be accomplished, and so a piece of cleaning equipment is selected to tackle that specific task. With that said, there are still plenty of nuances that can make or break any cleaning application, a few of which we&#;ll share below for warehouse managers to consider with their next cleaning equipment purchase:

• Equipment Functionality Selection &#; buyers often over-buy industrial cleaning equipment, purchasing options or models that offer many advanced features but are not ideal solutions for the buyer&#;s actual use-case. For example, many buyers purchase combo sweeper-scrubber units with the intent that they&#;ll utilize both functions, only to find out that they use one function so infrequently that they could have paid less for a single-function unit and rented the other when needed.
• Understanding Cleaning Limits &#; buyers should thoroughly review the capabilities, specifications, and technical limitations of the equipment they&#;re looking at to ensure that these are not overly restrictive. For example, the difference between a 2 mph and 3 mph rider-sweeper may seem trivial on paper, but this could translate into hundreds of working hours over the course of a year. Since technical specifications can be hard to interpret, we always recommend that buyers physically test new equipment at their facility to gauge its real limitations.
• Chemistry Makeup &#; for all industrial cleaning equipment that use chemicals, selecting the right chemistry makeup is imperative towards achieving the desired level of cleaning on a cost-effective basis. In many cases, buyers will be sold on chemical products that are either overly aggressive or entirely mismatched to their real goals (such as buying a caustic detergent when all that was needed was a light acid sanitizer). In addition, mismatched chemistries and excessive concentrations can cause physical damage to cleaning equipment as well as the surfaces that they clean.
• Routine Maintenance &#; practically by definition, cleaning equipment takes a beating and gets dirty itself in no time flat. Owners of industrial cleaning equipment must commit to proper maintenance, service, internal and external cleaning, and timely parts replacements as required by the equipment&#;s manufacturer. For aggressive applications, the manufacturer&#;s maintenance requirements may not be sufficient, requiring buyers to assess and perform necessary service as soon as it&#;s needed.
• Custom Equipment Solutions &#; when no pre-configured equipment solution solves a unique challenge, there is always the option to design and purchase custom equipment tailor-made to a given application. Most often, we see industrial cleaning equipment customized in areas such as cleaning head attachments, cleaning pressures, water tank volumes, heating temperatures, forced-air drying attachments, and even fully autonomous, self-driving navigation.

MH Equipment is one of the largest material handling service providers in the United States, with 34 locations and over 1,000 employees serving customers in 10 upper Midwest and Eastern states. Our mission is to deliver exceptional service in material handling equipment sales, service, rental, certification & training, emergency response, and engineering. From complete fleet management to warehouse design, vehicle sales to roadside response, our local experts are here to serve your needs. For more information or to discuss your application, please call us at (308) 210- or  us here. 

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Industrial Cleaning Equipment For Sale.